SOME  ACCOUNT  OF  THE 

"GIBBS-CHANNING"  PORTRAIT 

OF  GEORGE  WASHINGTON 


THE    GIBBS-CHANNING 

WASHINGTON. 

PAINTED     BY    GILBERT   STUART. 

IN  POSSESSION  OF  S.    P.    AVERY. 


ome  Account  of  the 
"Gibbs-Channing" 
Portrait  of  George 
\Vashington      J^K     .1^4     ^K 

Painted  by  Gilbert  Stuart 


Privately  Printed 
New  York  .  1900 


C/ 


jINCE  the  portrait  of  Washing- 
ton, by  Gilbert  Stuart,  known 
as  the  "  Gibbs-Channing  "  por- 
trait, passed  into  the  possession 
of  the  present  owner,  he  has 
often  been  requested  to  loan  it  for  various  pub- 
lic exhibitions,  to  allow  it  to  be  reproduced  in 
different  forms,  and  as  often  has  been  solicited 
to  furnish  information  as  to  its  history.  The 
general  recognition  that  this  pictorial  rendering 
of  the  "  Father  of  his  Country"  is  the  most 
worthy  of  the  many  likenesses  made  of  him, 
also  that  it  is  a  supreme  work  of  art  by  our 
greatest  portrait  painter,  which  for  perfection  of 
execution  and  immaculate  condition  stands  pre- 
eminent, fully  justifies  the  following  presenta- 
tion of  facts  relating  to  its  history  and  record- 

4 


M367900 


The  "  Gibbs -Channing"  Washington 

ing  some  of  the  critical  praise  which  has  been 
freely  bestowed  upon  it. 

It  may  be  in  order  to  first  give  the  following 
letter  from  Dr.  William  F.  Channing,  from 
whom  Mr.  S.  P.  Avery,  of  New  York,  pur- 
chased the  painting  in  1889. 

Dear  Sir :  You  have  requested  me  to  furnish  you  with  the 
record  of  the  "  Gibbs  "  Washington,  derived  from  the  publica- 
tions relating  to  it,  from  my  own  researches,  and  from  family 
tradition. 

The  "  Gibbs  "  Washington  is  the  representative  picture  of 
Washington's  first  sitting  to  Stuart,  in  September,  1795.  This 
sitting  originated  the  first  type  of  the  Washington  portrait  by 
Stuart,  showing  the  right  side  of  Washington's  face.  The 
Vaughan  picture  (painted  for  Samuel  Vaughan,1  sent  to  London, 
engraved  by  Holloway,  and  published  there  in  1796)  and  three 
other  copies  which  exist,  belonging  to  this  type,  were  all  painted, 
though  perhaps  not  finished,  in  the  latter  part  of  1795  or  early 
part  of  1796.  All  are  very  inferior  to  the  "  Gibbs  "  Washing- 
ton in  individuality  of  handling  and  detail.  The  "Gibbs" 
Washington  was  sold  by  Stuart,  at  an  early  date,  to  his  warm 
personal  friend,  Colonel  George  Gibbs  (died  1833)  of  New  York, 
with  the  statement  that  it  was  on  the  easel  while  Washington 
was  sitting,  and  worked  upon  from  life.  At  a  later  period 
Colonel  Gibbs,  having  purchased  from  Stuart  a  set  of  his  Presi- 
dents of  the  United  States,  sold  the  Gibbs  picture  to  his 
sister,  Mrs.  William  Ellery  Channing,  who  gave  it,  thirty 

1  Samuel  Vaughan  was  a  London  merchant,  resident  for  several  years  in 
Philadelphia,  and  a  great  admirer  of  Washington.  He  is  the  Mr.  Vaughan 
who  presented  him  with  the  handsomely  carved  mantel  for  Mount  Vernon, 
which  Washington  termed  in  his  diary— "My  marble  chimney  piece."  Mr. 
Vaughan  took  or  sent  the  picture  to  London  in  the  year  in  which  it  was 
painted,  and  was  there  engraved  by  T.  Holloway,  and  there  published  in  1796. 

5 


The  "  Gibbs -Channing"  Washington 

years  ago,  to  her  son  Dr.  William  F.  Channing,  the  present 
owner  and  writer  of  this  letter.  The  "  Gibbs  "  Washington 
has  thus  never  been  out  of  the  possession  of  the  Gibbs-Chan- 
ning family  since  it  left  Stuart's  hands. 

The  original  picture,  resulting  from  Washington's  second 
sitting,  April,  1796,  is  the  "Athenaeum"  head,  now  in  the 
Boston  Museum  of  Fine  Arts.  Stuart  retained  this  picture 
in  his  own  possession,  and,  as  he  did  not  want  the  Gibbs 
picture  to  come  in  competition  with  the  head,  which  he  had 
selected  to  multiply  in  future  years  by  numerous  copies,  what 
more  probable  disposition  could  be  made  of  it  than  to  sell  it 
to  his  cherished  friend,  in  whose  discretion  he  could  trust  ? 
From  all  the  circumstances,  and  from  the  internal  evidence  of 
the  picture  itself,  my  own  conviction,  shared  by  many  artists, 
has  increased  that  the  Gibbs  picture  is  (in  the  most  restricted 
sense)  the  original  of  Washington's  first  sitting  to  Stuart. 
The  picture  has  been  engraved  for  Elizabeth  B.  Johnston's 
work,  "The  Original  Portraits  of  Washington,"  1882,  in  which 
she  praises  it  highly,  adding,  "  It  is  a  pity,  and  a  marvel,  that 
it  has  not  been  more  widely  known." 

Mr.  George  C.  Mason,  in  his  "  Illustrated  Life  and  Works  of 
Gilbert  Stuart,"  1879,  furnishes  a  fine  photogravure  of  the 
picture  as  a  frontispiece  of  the  volume,  and  also  an  excellent 
line-engraving,  by  Charles  Burt,  in  the  body  of  the  work.  Mr. 
Mason  says  that "  the  finest,  beyond  all  comparison,"  of  the 
Stuart  portraits  of  the  first  type  is  the  "  Gibbs  "  Washington. 
He  adds:  "The  picture  is  superb,  and  in  it  the  lower  part  of 
the  face,  so  much  criticized  in  the  well-known  portraits  of 
Washington  by  Stuart,  is  remarkably  well  managed."  Rem- 
brandt Peale  says,  speaking  of  the  Vaughan  picture,  an  early 
Washington  by  Stuart:  "In  the  lower  part  of  the  face  it  has 
the  advantage  over  the  other  portraits  that  he  afterward 
painted."  This  quality,  in  a  much  higher  degree,  appears  in 
the  Gibbs  picture,  with  which  Peale  was  probably  unac- 
quainted. The  venerable  A.  B.  Durand,  when  shown  a  photo- 

6 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

graph  of  it,  said:  "That  is  a  likeness.  It  is  much  superior  in 
character  to  the  Athenaeum  portrait,  and  should  be  consid- 
ered the  standard:  both  the  artist  and  the  subject  would 
gain  by  it."  He  also  said  he  wished  he  could  have  known  of 
it  in  earlier  life,  evidently  meaning  that  he  would  have 
engraved  it,  instead  of  the  Athenaeum  portrait. 

The  "  Gibbs  "  Washington  is  distinguished  by  its  dignity  as 
well  as  benignity  of  expression.  The  picture  is  in  splendid 
preservation,  the  colors,  as  in  so  many  of  Stuart's  pictures, 
retaining  their  original  brilliancy. 

I  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  the  picture,  nearly  sixty 
years  ago,  hanging  with  other  portraits  in  the  house  of  my 
father,  William  Ellery  Channing,  in  Boston. 

Newport,  Sept.  2,  1888.  WM.  F.  CHANNING. 

Soon  after  the  large  "  Anneline  "  photograph 
was  taken  of  the  painting  by  Wm.  Kurtz,  a 
copy  of  it  was  sent  to  Mr.  Charles  Henry  Hart, 
of  Philadelphia,  a  literary  gentleman  who  has 
long  been  an  acknowledged  expert  on  subjects 
of  art  connected  with  American  history.  On 
the  receipt  of  which  he  wrote  as  follows : 

"RosEMONT,  Pa,,  January  18,  1896. 

"My  dear  Sir :  I  found  the  superb  photograph 
of  your  Washington  awaiting  me  on  my  return, 
and  I  cannot  express  myself  in  regard  to  the 
original  more  strongly  than  I  did  in  the  '  Ameri- 
can Art  Eeview '  for  March,  1880,  Vol.  I,  p. 
219;  as  the  volume  may  not  be  handy  to  you,  I 
will  quote  from  my  review  therein  of  Mason's 

7 


The  "  Gibbs -Channing"  Washington 

Life  of  Stuart :  '  For  introducing  this  last- 
named  picture  (Gibbs'  Washington)  to  the  public, 
Mr.  Mason  merits  universal  thanks,  and  it  is 
only  to  be  regretted  that  it  has  remained  hidden 
so  long.  Had  it  been  known  earlier,  we  feel 
confident  in  asserting  that  the  Athenaeum  head 
would  not  have  become  the  accepted  likeness  of 
Washington.  We  had  the  privilege  of  seeing 
the  Gibbs  portrait  when  it  was  in  the  engraver's 
hands,  and  to  say  that  it  is  noble  as  a  portrait 
and  grand  as  a  picture  is  but  to  express  feebly 
the  impression  it  made  upon  us.  In  the  first 
place,  it  is  what  the  Lansdowne  and  Athenaeum 
heads  are  not :  it  is  the  likeness  of  a  man  —  a 
man  who  has  lived  among  men ;  firmness  and 
gentleness,  decision  and  moderation,  thoughtful- 
ness  and  power,  all  are  depicted  there.  One 
feels  that  Washington  could  have  looked  like 
this,  and  it  is  not  unlike  the  portraits  painted  by 
other  artists;  but  no  one  can  ever  feel  thor- 
oughly satisfied  that  he  did  look  like  the  Lans- 
downe or  the  Athenaeum  heads. .  .  .":  Quoting 
still  further  from  Mr.  Hart's  review,  he  says : 
"  That  Stuart  was  a  master  in  the  art  of  portrait 
painting  it  needs  no  argument  to  prove ;  his 
works  are  the  only  argument  needed,  and  they 
prove  it  most  satisfactorily.  In  his  life-like  por- 

8 


The  "  Gibbs- Charming"  Washington 

traits  the  men  and  women  of  a  past  generation 
live  again.  Bach  individual  is  here,  and  it  was 
Stuart's  ability  to  portray  the  individual  that 
was  his  greatest  power.  Each  face  looks  at 
you,  and  fain  would  speak,  while  the  brilliant 
and  animated  coloring  makes  one  forgetful  that 
it  is  of  the  past.  Stuart's  pictures  have  come 
down  to  us  very  little  injured  by  time,  which  is 
doubtless  owing  to  the  use  by  him  of  pure  colors, 
and  his  manner  of  employing  them." 

The  late  Wm.  S.  Baker,  of  Philadelphia,  the 
well-known  author  of  the  "  Engraved  Portraits 
of  Washington,"  Philadelphia,  1880,  and  of 
other  historical  and  bibliographical  works  relat- 
ing to  Washington,  thus  expressed  himself:  "  I 
have  received  a  copy  of  the  splendid  photograph 
of  the  Gibbs-Channing  'Washington.'  I  do 
not  remember  to  have  seen  the  original,  but  am 
exceedingly  impressed  with  this  reproduction 
and  can  truthfully  say  with  Durand  that  '  this 
is  a  likeness  and  much  superior  to  the  Athenseum 
head.'  I  am  glad  that  the  original  of  so  valu- 
able a  portrait  of  the  '  Father  of  his  Country '  is 
in  such  worthy  hands.  I  must  regard  it  as  the 
portrait  which  is  most  consistent  with  the  charac- 
ter of  that  great  man.  .  .  ." 

9 


The  "  Gribbs-Channing"  Washington 

Eeturning  to  Mason's  "Life,"  G.  W.  P.  Custis, 
in  his  "Recollections  and  Private  Memoirs," 
says :  "  The  first  portrait  of  Washington  by 
Stuart  created  a  great  sensation  in  Philadelphia. 
It  was  soon  followed  by  the  celebrated  full- 
length  for  the  Marquis  of  Lansdowne.1  This 
last  was  undoubtedly  the  next  picture  to  create 
a  sensation;  but  there  was  an  interval  of  at 
least  a  year  between  the  painting  of  the  first  por- 
trait and  the  full-length.  .  .  ."  Among  Stuart's 
papers  the  following  fragment  was  found:  "A 
list  of  gentlemen  who  are  to  have  copies  of  the 
portrait  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
Philadelphia,  1795 "  (then  follow  several 
names  —  Mr.  Vaughan's  being  the  only  one 
which  has  become  familiar);  it  is  not  at  all 
probable  that  these  pictures  were  all  painted ; 
Philadelphia  at  that  time  was  full  of  visitors ; 

1  "  The  first  full-length  of  Washington  was  a  commission  from  the  Marquis 
of  Lansdowne.  When  it  was  known  that  Stuart  was  to  paint  such  a  picture, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  William  Bingham  (Mr.  Bingham  was  a  notable  merchant  of 
Philadelphia)  expressed  a  strong  desire  to  be  at  the  charge,  and  to  be  per- 
mitted to  present  it  to  the  marquis.  Stuart,  it  is  said,  hesitated,  but  finally 
yielded  to  their  wishes,  and  Mrs.  Bingham  asked  the  president  to  give  the 
artist  sittings.  This  was  in  April,  1796,  as  shown  in  the  note  from  the 
president  to  Stuart.  'Sir:—I  am  under  promise  to  Mrs.  Bingham  to  sit  for 
you  to-morrow,  at  nine  o'clock,  and  wishing  to  know  if  it  would  be  convenient 
to  you  that  I  should  do  so,  and  whether  it  shall  be  at  your  own  house  (as  she 
talked  of  the  State  House)  I  send  this  note  to  ask  information.  I  am,  sir, 
your  obedient  servant,  Geo.  Washington 

'Monday  Evening,  11.  April,  1796.'" 

This  painting  is  now  in  the  possession  of  Lord  Rosebery. 

10 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

Stuart  was  crowded  with  orders  for  portraits, 
and  he  was  so  overrun  with  callers  that  he  was 
forced,  a  little  later,  to  remove  to  Germantown. 
" ...  It  is  very  easy  to  establish  the  fact  that 
the  earlier  portraits  show  only  the  right  side  of 
the  face,  but  it  is  not  possible  now  to  say  which 
of  the  early  portraits  was  the  earliest.  The 
finest  beyond  all  comparison  is  that  owned  by 
Dr.  William  F.  Ohanning,  of  Providence,  E.  I. 
It  was  painted  for  Colonel  George  Gibbs.  The 
warmest  friendship  existed  between  Colonel 
Gibbs  and  Stuart,  and  we  may  feel  sure  that  in 
painting  this  picture  the  artist  aimed  to  do  his 
best."  ' 

Mr.  Charles  Henry  Hart,  in  "  Harper's  Maga- 
zine "  for  August,  1896,  in  an  article  on  "  Stuart's 
Lansdowne  Portrait  of  Washington,"  has  the 
following  regarding  the  pictures  of  the  first  sit- 
ting to  Stuart : 

"  Gilbert  Stuart  painted  three  original  por- 
traits of  Washington  from  life.  They  are 
known  to  history,  from  their  owners,  in  the 
order  of  their  painting,  as  the  Vaughan,  Lans- 
downe, and  Athenaeum  pictures.  The  first  is  a 
full  bust,  the  second  a  whole  length,  and  the 
third  a  vignette  head.  The  Vaughan  portrait 

11 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

shows  the  right  side  of  the  face,  while  the  Lans- 
downe  and  Athenaeum  heads  show  the  left  side. 

"  Stuart  returned  from  England  in  1792,  after 
an  absence  of  seventeen  years,  and  towards  the 
close  of  1794  settled  in  Philadelphia,  with  the 
ostensible  object  of  painting  a  portrait  of  the 
President,  carrying  with  him,  it  is  said,  a  letter 
of  introduction  to  Washington  from  John  Jay. 
Here  in  the  following  year  he  painted  his  first 
portrait  of  Washington,  a  delineation  unfortu- 
nately not  commonly  familiar,  but  which,  after 
a  careful  study  of  the  subject,  I  consider  to  be 
the  best  and  most  satisfactory  likeness  of  Wash- 
ington that  Stuart  painted. 

"  There  are  but  three  pictures  known  of  this 
type  from  the  easel  of  Stuart.  One,  the  portrait 
painted  for  Samuel  Vaughan,  of  London,  which 
was  finely  engraved  by  Holloway  for  Hunter's 
sumptuous  edition  of  Lavater's  "  Physiognomy," 
now  in  the  possession  of  Mrs.  Joseph  Harrison, 
of  Philadelphia.  Another,  until  within  a  few 
years  lost  sight  of,  much  finer  than  the  Vaughan 
portrait  in  execution,  and  with  every  indication 
of  being  the  original  from  life  painted  for  Wil- 
liam Bingham,  and  purchased  at  the  sale  of  his 
effects  at  Philadelphia,  in  1807,  by  the  proprie- 
tor of  the  Old  Exchange  Coffee-house,  in  whose 

12 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

family  it  remained  for  eighty-five  years,  until  it 
came  into  the  possession  of  the  writer.  And 
the  third,  somewhat  varied  from  the  other  two, 
but  a  very  beautiful  and  impressive  head,  known 
as  the  Gibbs  picture,  belonging  to  Mr.  S.  P. 
Avery,  of  New  York. 

"  For  some  unaccountable  reason  Stuart  seems 
not  to  have  been  satisfied  with  this,  his  first 
attempt,  and  he  had  two  later  sittings,  the  last 
one,  or  Athenaeum  head,  receiving  his  prefer- 
ence. Yet  he  retained  the  Gibbs  picture  by 
him  for  several  years,  and  is  said  to  have  dis- 
posed of  it  to  Colonel  Gibbs  as  his  best  work, 
and  only  out  of  personal  friendship.  Likewise, 
when  William  Birch  desired  to  make  an  enamel 
portrait  of  Washington,  Stuart  gave  him  his 
first  head  to  copy,  and  Washington  stamped  it 
with  his  approval." 

Mason  mentions  another  of  the  same  type  as 
being  owned  (1879)  by  "  Mrs.  Rogers,  of  Lan- 
caster, Pa.,  a  daughter  of  General  Hand,  of  the 
Revolution.  .  .  ."  Elizabeth  Johnston  has  the 
following  notice  of  this  picture  in  her  work, 
"  The  Original  Portraits  of  Washington,"  folio, 
Osgood  &  Co.,  Boston,  1882 :  "  A  very  hand- 
some copy  of  this  first  portrait  is  now  in  posses- 

13 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

sion  of  Mrs.  Anna  R.  Reilly,  of  New  Haven, 
Conn.  This  lady  is  a  great-granddaughter  of 
the  'gallant  Irish  captain  of  the  Revolution/ 
General  Edward  Hand.  The  picture  was  pur- 
chased in  Baltimore  in  1806,  by  Edward  Brien, 
of  Philadelphia,  who  married  General  Hand's 
daughter."  The  late  Mr.  Stockton  Hough, 
of  Trenton,  N.  J.,  told  Mr.  Avery  that  he  had 
seen  this  picture  (1899)  in  possession  of  Mrs. 
Reilly  (nee  Rogers),  who  was  then  living  at  the 
Windsor  Hotel.  Mr.  Hough  described  the  pic- 
ture as  being  a  fair  example  of  the  artist,  and 
that  the  background  was  red.  Another  good 
Stuart,  answering  to  the  above  description,  is 
now  owned  by  Mr.  George  L.  Rives  of  this 
city,  who  has  kindly  furnished  this  clear  pedi- 
gree of  it.  "This  portrait  was  for  many  years 
in  the  possession  of  Professor  George  Tucker,  of 
the  University  of  Virginia,  the  biographer  and 
friend  of  Jefferson.  How  it  came  into  Professor 
Tucker's  possession  is  uncertain,  although  it 
may  have  been  through  his  wife,  who  was 
Maria  Ball  Carter,  whom  he  married  in  1802, 
and  who  was  a  great-niece  of  General  Washing- 
ton. From  Professor  Tucker  the  portrait  came 
to  his  daughter,  Mrs.  George  Rives,  of  Sher- 
wood, Albemarle  Co.,  Va.,  and  was  by  her  sold 

14 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

to  Mr.  Francis  Rives  in  1874,  who  bequeathed 
it  to  his  son,  Mr.  George  L.  Rives." 

Stuart's  third  original — destined  to  become 
the  most  known  of  his  works — was  a  bust- 
portrait,  for  which  Washington  consented  to 
sit  at  the  solicitation  of  his  wife,  of  whom 
Stuart  painted  a  companion  portrait  during  the 
spring  or  summer  of  1796.  His  fame  now 
burdened  him  with  multiplied  demands  upon 
his  time.  To  secure  leisure,  he  left  Chestnut 
Street,  and  removed  to  Germantown,  where  the 
Athenaeum  portraits  were  painted.  Different 
statements  have  been  made  as  to  why  Stuart 
never  completely  finished  these  portraits,  and 
retained  them  thus  in  his  possession  until 
he  died.  Stuart's  explanation  is  given  by 
Mr.  Neagle,  the  artist,  in  these  words:  "Mrs. 
Washington  called  often  to  see  the  general's 
portrait,  and  was  desirous  to  possess  it.  One 
day  she  called  with  her  husband,  and  begged  to 
know  when  she  might  have  it.  The  general 
himself  never  pressed  it;  but  on  this  occasion,  as 
he  and  his  lady  were  about  to  retire,  he  returned 
to  Mr.  Stuart,  and  said  that  he  saw  plainly  of 
what  advantage  the  picture  was  to  the  painter. 
He  therefore  begged  the  artist  to  retain  the 

15 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

picture  at  his  pleasure."  Miss  Jane  Stuart's 
version  of  the  story  is:  "When  General  and 
Mrs.  Washington  took  their  last  sittings,  her 
father  told  Washington  that  it  would  be  of  great 
importance  to  him  if  he  could  retain  the  origi- 
nals, and  that  Washington  consented,  saying, 
'Certainly,  Mr.  Stuart,  if  they  are  of  any  con- 
sequence to  you;  I  shall  he  perfectly  satisfied 
with  copies  from  your  hand,  as  it  will  be  impos- 
sible for  me  to  sit  again."1  Miss  Stuart  says 
that  the  copies  that  were  made  were  for  Mount 
Vernon. 

This  pair  of  (the  unfinished)  portraits  re- 
mained in  the  possession  of  his  family  until 
1831,  when  they  were  bought  from  his  widow, 
for  fifteen  hundred  dollars,  by  the  Washington 
Association  of  Boston,  and  other  subscribers, 
and  were  presented  to  the  Boston  Athenaeum; 
at  present  they  are  loaned  to  the  Museum  of 
Fine  Arts,  with  other  paintings  belonging  to 
the  Athenaeum.  Of  this  picture  Stuart  made  a 
great  many  copies,  good,  fairly  good,  or  poor, 
as  the  mood  or  pressure  permitted;  he  used  to 
call  it  his  "nest  egg,"  or  his  "hundred-dollar 
bill,"  and  when  he  needed  money  he  would  turn 
one  off  rapidly.  One  of  the  best  of  these  copies 

16 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

is  now  in  the  Walters  superb  collection  at  Bal- 
timore. It  was  painted  for  Robert  Gilmor,  also 
a  noted  collector  of  the  same  city;  with  the 
picture  came  Stuart's  receipt  for  the  price  of  it 
(one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars),  and  some  lines 
saying  that,  painting  it  for  such  a  distinguished 
amateur,  he  had  taken  especial  pains  with  it, 
and  hoped  Mr.  Gilmor  would  be  pleased.  After 
the  Gilmor  collection  was  dispersed,  this  picture 
became  the  property  of  Admiral  Dahlgren,  from 
whose  widow  the  late  William  T.  Walters  pro- 
cured it. 

Some  of  Stuart's  copies  of  this  Washington 
portrait  have  been  destroyed  by  fire  or  other 
accidents,  others  from  want  of  proper  care,  in- 
judicious cleaning,  etc.,  have  become  worthless. 
Stuart's  daughter  made  quite  a  number  of  copies 
of  the  same  picture;  James  Frothingham, 
Stuart's  pupil,  made  several  most  excellent 
copies,  which  to  the  unlearned  might  pass  as 
the  master's  work.  Others  have  made  copies, 
from  copies.  Considering  these  facts,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  account  for  the  numerous  "Stuart's 
Washington"  which  are  constantly  turning  up, 
to  the  dismay  of  artist-judges  and  other  genuine 
experts. 

17 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

Washington  Allston  was  asked  to  pronounce 
a  eulogy  on  Stuart,  but  he  was  forced  to  decline, 
owing  to  failing  health ;  he,  however,  wrote  the 
following  obituary,  which  appeared  in  the 
columns  of  the  Boston  " Daily  Advertiser":  a 
memorial  which  in  paying  a  just  and  beautiful 
tribute  to  the  genius  of  Stuart,  did  credit  to  the 
heart  of  his  brother  artist. 


(Silbert  Stuart. 

JBorn  2>ecember  3, 1755. 
7, 1828. 


"  During  the  last  week  the  remains  of  Gilbert 
Stuart,  Esq.,  were  consigned  to  the  tomb.  He 
was  born  in  the  State  of  Rhode  Island,  in  the 
year  1755.  Soon  after  coming  of  age  he  went 
to  England,  where  he  became  the  pupil  of  Mr. 
West,  the  late  distinguished  President  of  the 
Royal  Academy.  Stuart  there  rose  to  eminence ; 
nor  was  it  a  slight  distinction  that  his  claims 
were  acknowledged  even  during  the  life  of  Sir 
Joshua  Reynolds.  His  high  reputation  as  a 
portrait  painter,  as  well  in  Ireland  as  in  Eng- 
land, having  thus  introduced  him  to  a  large  ac- 
quaintance among  the  higher  classes  of  society, 

18 


The  "  Gfibbs-Channing"  Washington 

both  fortune  and  fame  attended  his  progress,  in- 
asmuch that,  had  he  chosen  to  remain  in  Eng- 
land, they  would  have  doubtless  awarded  him 
their  highest  gifts.  But,  admired  and  patron- 
ized as  he  was,  he  chose  to  return  to  his  native 
country.  He  was  impelled  to  this  step,  as  he 
often  declared,  by  a  desire  to  give  to  Americans 
a  faithful  portrait  of  Washington,  and  thus,  in 
some  measure,  to  associate  his  own  with  the 
name  of  the  Father  of  his  Country.  And  well 
is  his  ambition  justified  in  the  sublime  head  he 
has  left  us:  a  nobler  personification  of  wisdom 
and  goodness,  reposing  in  the  majesty  of  a 
serene  countenance,  is  not  to  be  found  on  can- 
vas. He  returned  to  America  in  1792,  and  re- 
sided chiefly  in  Philadelphia  and  Washington, 
in  the  practice  of  his  profession,  till  about  1806, 
when  he  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  remained 
to  the  time  of  his  death.  During  the  last  ten 
years  of  his  life  he  had  to  struggle  with  many 
infirmities ;  yet  such  was  the  vigor  of  his  mind 
that  he  seemed  to  triumph  over  the  decay  of 
nature,  and  give  to  some  of  his  last  productions 
all  the  truth  and  splendor  of  his  prime. 

"Gilbert  Stuart  was  not  only  one  of  the  first 
painters  of  his  time,  but  must  have  been  ad- 
mitted, by  all  who  had  an  opportunity  of  know- 

19 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

ing  him,  to  have  been,  even  out  of  his  art,  an 
extraordinary  man ;  one  who  would  have  found 
distinction  easy  in  any  other  profession  or  walk 
of  life.  His  mind  was  of  a  strong  and  original 
cast,  his  perceptions  as  clear  as  they  were  just, 
and  in  the  power  of  illustration  he  has  rarely 
been  equaled  on  almost  every  subject,  more 
especially  on  such  as  were  connected  with  his 
art ;  his  conversation  was  marked  by  wisdom 
and  knowledge,  while  the  uncommon  precision 
and  eloquence  of  his  language  seemed  ever  to 
receive  additional  grace  from  his  manner,  which 
was  that  of  a  well-bred  gentleman.  "  The  nar- 
rations and  anecdotes  with  which  his  knowledge 

o 

of  men  and  of  the  world  had  stored  his  mem- 
ory, and  which  he  often  gave  with  great  beauty 
and  dramatic  effect,  were  not  unfrequently  em- 
ployed by  Mr.  Stuart  in  a  way  and  with  an 
address  peculiar  to  himself.  From  this  store  it 
was  his  custom  to  draw  largely  while  occupied 
with  his  sitters — apparently  for  their  amuse- 
ment; but  his  object  was  rather,  by  thus  ban- 
ishing all  restraint,  to  call  forth,  if  possible, 
some  involuntary  traits  of  natural  character. 
But  these  glimpses  of  character,  mixed  as  they 
are  in  all  men  with  so  much  that  belongs  to 
their  age  and  association,  would  have  been  of 

20 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

little  use  to  the  ordinary  observer ;  for  the  fac- 
ulty of  distinguishing  between  the  accidental 
and  the  permanent — in  other  words,  between  the 
conventional  expression  which  arises  from  man- 
ners and  the  more  subtle  indication  of  the  indi- 
vidual mind — is  indeed  no  common  one;  and  by 
no  one  with  whom  we  are  acquainted  was  this 
faculty  possessed  in  so  remarkable  a  degree. 
It  was  this  which  enabled  him  to  animate  his 
canvas, — not  with  the  appearance  of  mere  gen- 
eral life,  but  with  that  peculiar,  distinctive  life 
which  separates  the  humblest  individual  from 
his  kind.  He  seemed  to  dive  into  the  thoughts 
of  men,  for  they  wTere  made  to  rise  and  speak 
on  the  surface.  Were  other  evidence  wanting, 
this  talent  alone  were  sufficient  to  establish  his 
claims  as  a  man  of  genius,  since  it  is  the  privi- 
lege of  genius  alone  to  measure  at  once  the 
highest  and  the  lowest.  In  his  happiest  efforts, 
no  one  ever  surpassed  him  in  embodying  (if  we 
may  so  speak)  these  transient  apparitions  of  the 
soul. 

"In  a  word,  Gilbert  Stuart  was,  in  its  widest 
sense,  a  philosopher  in  his  art;  he  thoroughly 
understood  its  principles,  as  his  works  bear  wit- 
ness,— whether  as  to  the  harmony  of  colors,  or 
of  lines,  or  of  light  and  shadow, — showing  that 

21 


The  "  Gfibbs-Channing"  Washington 

exquisite  sense  of  a  whole  which  only  a  man  of 
genius  can  realize  and  embody. 

"  We  cannot  close  this  brief  notice  without  a 
passing  record  of  his  generous  bearing  toward 
his  professional  brethren.  He  never  suffered 
the  manliness  of  his  nature  to  darken  with  the 
least  shadow  of  jealousy ;  but  where  praise  was 
due  he  gave  it  freely,  and  gave  it,  too,  with  a 
grace  which  showed  that,  loving  excellence  for 
its  own  sake,  he  had  a  pleasure  in  praising.  To 
the  younger  artists  he  was  uniformly  kind  and 
indulgent,  and  most  liberal  of  his  advice,  which 
no  one  ever  properly  asked  but  he  received, 
and  in  a  manner  no  less  courteous  than  im- 
pressive. The  unbroken  kindness  and  friend- 
ship with  which  he  honored  the  writer  of  this 
imperfect  sketch  will  never  be  forgotten.  In 
the  world  of  art  Mr.  Stuart  has  left  a  void  that 
will  not  soon  be  filled.  And  well  may  his 
country  say,  'A  great  man  has  passed  from 
amongst  us.'  But  Gilbert  Stuart  has  bequeathed 
her  what  is  paramount  to  power,  —  since  no 
power  can  command  it, —  the  rich  inheritance 
of  his  fame." 


22 


MATTERS  OF  FACT 


In  confirmation  of  Allston's  reference  to  Stuart's  "high 
reputation  as  a  portrait  painter,  as  well  in  Ireland  as  in  Eng- 
land" (Stuart  spent  seventeen  years  there),  the  following 
list  of  portraits  of  distinguished  subjects  painted  during  that 
period,  and  engraved  in  mezzotint,  and  published  from  1781 
(only  six  years  after  Stuart  arrived  in  London)  down  to  1806, 
taken  from  John  Chaloner  Smith's  work  on  English  mezzo- 
tints, will  be  found  most  interesting.  These  engravings  are 
all  of  folio  size,  and  for  the  full  lengths,  of  which  there  are 
several ;  the  plates  are  extra  large,  and  executed  by  the  best 
engravers  of  the  period.  Fine-proof  impressions  of  some  of 
these  plates  fetch  at  auction  sales  sometimes  as  much  as 
the  artist  received  for  the  original  painting.  It  is  amusing 
to  note  the  various  ways  the  painter's  name  was  engraved  on 
the  plate.  Often  it  was  Stewart  instead  of  Stuart,  most  fre- 
quently it, was  C.  G.,  then  simply  G.  or  J.— then  Gabriel 
which  was  affixed  to  the  line  engraving  by  James  Heath  of 
the  Lansdowne  picture,  published  in  1800.  One  plate  at- 
tributed the  painting  to  "  Gainsboro  and  Stuart "  (there  is  a 
small  line-engraving  of  J.  S.  Copley,  the  painter,  which  is 
attributed  to  Gainsborough,  but  really  painted  by  Stuart). 
We  give  the  name  of  the  subject,  name  of  the  mezzotint  en- 
graver, and  date  of  the  publication  (as  per  J.  C.  Smith)  : 
Fothergill,  John,  M.D.,  V.  Green,  1781.  Rogers,  Rev.  John 

23 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

(engraver's  name  not  given),  published  1785.  Kemble,  John, 
as  Richard  III.,  G.  Keating,  1788.  Manchester,  George  Mon- 
tague, Duke  of,  John  Jones,  1790.  Fitzgibbon,  Lord  John, 
C.  H.  Hodges,  1790.  Beresford,  Right  Hon.  John,  C.  H. 
Hodges,  1790.  Cleaver,  Eusby,  Bromley,  1790.  Leinster,  Wm. 
Robert,  Duke  of,  C.  H.  Hodges,  1790.  Grattan,  Rt.  Hon. 
Henry,  C.  H.  Hodges,  1792.  Foster,  John,  Rt.  Hon.,  C.  H. 
Hodges,  1792.  Conyngham,  Rt.  Hon.  Wm.  B.,  C.  H.  Hodges, 
1792.  Brownlow,  Rt.  Hon.  Wm.,  C.  H.  Hodges,  1792. 
Jervis,  Sir  John,  Robert  Laurie,  1794.  Carnarvon,  Rt.  Hon., 
Earl  of,  W.  Ward,  1795.  Harvey,  Captain  John,  J.  Murphy, 
1795.  Shaw,  Robert,  W.  Ward,  1797.  Lewis,  John,  R.  Field 
(no  date).  St.  Vincent,  the  Earl  of,  /.  R.  Smith,  1797.  St. 
Vincent,  the  Earl  of  (quite  a  different  picture),  W.  Barnard, 
1798.  Duke  of  Northumberland,  Charles  Turner,  1804.  Mai- 
ton,  Mr.  Thomas,  Wm.  Barney,  1806.  Preston,  Rev.  William, 
W.  Dickinson  (no  date).  Sidney,  Lord  Viscount,  Jno.  Young 
(no  date). 

(Mr.  Avery  has  a  set  of  these  rare  mezzotints.) 
In  addition  to  the  above,  numerous  other  engravings  have 
been  published  in  England  from  portraits  painted  by  Stuart, 
during  his  residence  abroad,  executed  in  line  or  stipple,  by 
Wm.  Sharp,  Bartolozzi,  Facius,  Meyer,  Holloway,  Ridley,  Hull, 
Fry,  Caroline  Watson,  and  others. 

The  "Gibbs-Channing"  Washington,  by  Gilbert  Stuart, 
1795,  measures  25  by  30  inches— a  favorite  size  of  Stuart's  ; 
it  is  painted  on  canvas  with  a  kind  of  surface  generally  used 
by  him.  The  head  and  features  are  firmly  modeled,  the  flesh 
has  those  delicate  gradations  of  carnation  which  he  handled 
so  ably,  rich  and  refined  at  the  same  time  ;  the  black  velvet 
coat  has  all  the  texture  and  sheen  of  the  material  itself,  no 
part  being  at  all  vague,  the  white  shirt-ruffle  shows  that  firm 
and  peculiar  "  touch  "  which  artists  have  always  admired  in 
such  details  by  Stuart.  The  background  is  made  up  of  a  cur- 

24 


The  "  Gibbs-Channing"  Washington 

tain,  exquisitely  expressed  in  delicate  shades  of  olive-green- 
gray  color;  at  the  right  is  an  opening  with  a  .landscape  sug- 
gested. This  treatment  is  a  distinguishing  feature  of  this 
particular  representation  of  the  first  sitting,  each  of  the  other 
examples  having  red  backgrounds.  It  is  seldom  that  a  work  of 
art  has  remained  so  long  in  the  one  family,  over  eighty  years 
have  passed  during  its  ownership  by  three  persons  —  sacredly 
guarded,  never  tampered  with,  perfectly  transmitted. 

The  earliest  public  exhibition  of  this  painting  of  which  we 
have  found  any  record  is  when  it  was  on  view,  with  a  consid- 
erable number  of  Stuart's  portraits,  at  the  Museum  of  Fine 
Arts,  Boston,  during  the  summer  of  1860,  when  it  attracted 
admiration,  surprise  and  discussion.  Previous  to  that  time  it 
could  only  have  been  seen  by  the  personal  friends  of  the 
Gibbs  and  Channing  families.  Mr.  Avery  never  saw  the  pic- 
ture until  1888,  when  it  was  in  the  care  of  the  poet,  Mr.  E.  C. 
Stedman  (a  relative  of  Dr.  Channing),  who  put  it  on  view,  for 
an  evening,  at  a  monthly  meeting  of  the  "  Century  "  Associa- 
tion, New  York.  Later  on  Mr.  Stedman  sent  it  to  the  loan 
exhibition  in  commemoration  of  the  centennial  of  Washing- 
ton's inauguration  1789-1889,  held  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera 
House,  New  York,  1889.  Soon  after  this  Mr.  Avery  pur- 
chased the  picture.  It  was  next  seen  in  a  loan  collection  at 
the  National  Academy  of  Design  1893-94.  During  several 
months  in  1896,  it  was  at  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art,  in 
a  retrospective  collection  of  paintings  by  American  artists, 
and  at  the  Union  League  Club,  New  York,  February  22,  1897. 
It  next  figured  in  the  exhibition  of  engraved  portraits  of 
Washington  held  at  the  Grolier  Club,  December,  1899,  in 
commemoration  of  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  his  death. 

The  first  reproduction  of  this  work  of  which  we  have  any 
knowledge,  is  a  small  photograph  taken  1879  by  Coleman  & 
Co.,  of  Providence,  R.  I.,  for  Dr.  Channing,  and  which  was 
used  for  the  fine  line-engraving  made  by  C.  Burt,  who  put  in  a 
plain,  flat  background,  omitting  the  curtain  and  landscape 

25 


The  "  Gibbs  -Channing"  Washington 

glimpses,  and  also  for  the  photogravure  by  Goupil,  of  Paris, 
both  appearing  in  the  handsome  quarto  vol. :  "  The  Life  and 
Works  of  Gilbert  Stuart,"  by  Geo.  C.  Mason,  Chas.  Scribner's 
Sons,  N.  Y.,  1879.  There  is  a  large  photo-print  (rather  black) 
of  this  picture  in  Elizabeth  B.  Johnston's  work,  "  The  Original 
Portraits  of  Washington,"  folio,  Osgood  &  Co.,  Boston,  1882. 
It  was  engraved  on  wood  by  G.  Kruell,  from  the  Coleman 
photograph,  for  "  Harper's  Magazine,"  April,  1889,  to  accom- 
pany an  article  on  the  Centennial  celebration.  It  was  also 
represented  (but  why  in  an  oval  form?)  in  the  official  "History 
of  the  Centennial  Celebration  of  George  Washington  as  First 
President  of  the  United  States,"  edited  by  Clarence  Winthrop 
Bowen,  Esq.,  Ph.D.,  Appleton  &  Co.,  1892.  A  most  excel- 
lent photograph  by  the  "Anneline"  process,  size  10x13,  was 
taken  direct  from  the  painting  for  Mr.  Avery  by  Wm.  Kurtz, 
1895.  A  "  half-tone "  engraving  from  that  photograph  was 
reproduced  for  "  Harper's  Magazine,"  August,  1896,  as  one  of 
the  illustrations  to  Mr.  Chas.  Henry  Hart's  article,  "  Stuart's 
Lansdowne  Portrait  of  Washington."  And  Thos.  Johnson, 
the  engraver  on  wood,  executed  a  very  successful  rendering 
from  the  Kurtz  photograph  (assisted  by  a  close  study  of  the 
painting),  which  appeared  in  "  Scribner's  Magazine  "  for  June, 
1898,  for  Lodge's  "Story  of  the  Revolution." 

The  reproductions  by  the  "Albertype"  process  of  the  Gibbs-Channing 
painting,  the  engraving  by  Holloway  of  the  Vaughan  painting,  and  the  por- 
trait of  Stuart,  after  Neagle,  were  made  for  this  little  history  by  Mr.  Edward 
Bierstadt,  N.  Y. 


26 


mam 

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